Two-piece portable carrier for bottles and the like



April 29, 1952. GEERTSEN 2,594,304

TWO-PIECE PORTABLE CARRIER FOR BOTTLES AND THE LIKE.

Filed D80. 29, 1947 2 $HEETS-SHEET l INVENTOR.

BY w

ATTORNEYS April 29, 1952 GEERTSEN 2,594,304

TWO-PIECE PORTABLE CARRIER FOR BOTTLES AND THE LIKE Filed Dec. 29, 1947 2 SHEETS-SHEET 2 25 ArrolvsYs Patented Apr. 29, 1952 TWO-PIECE PORTABLE CARRIER FOR BOTTLES AND THE LIKE Nelson Geertsen, Chicago, Ill., assignor to American Can Company, New York, N. Y., a corporation of New Jersey Application December 29, 1947, Serial No. 794,279

An object of the invention is the provision of a bottle carrier which is sturdy in construction and which is easily and economically manufac tured and assembled from two simple pieces of material.

Another object is the provision of such a bottle carrier wherein the bottom support and the handle are made in one integral piece without the use of rivets, soldering, welding, or other fastening means and in such a manner that this one piece member will safely support a number of filled containers such as soft drink or beer bottles without any parts giving way under reasonably rough handling.

Numerous other objects and advantages of the invention will be apparent as it is better understood from the following description, which, taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, discloses a preferred embodiment thereof.

Referring to the drawings:

Figure 1 is a perspective view of a complete bottle carrier embodying the instant invention;

Fig. 2 is an enlarged transverse sectional view taken substantially along a plane indicated by the lines 2-2 in Fig. 1, with parts broken away; i

Fig. 3 is an enlarged section taken substantially along the line 33 in Fig. 2;

Fig. 4 is a perspective view of the one piece handle and support section of the carrier shown in Fig. 1; and

Fig. 5 is an enlarged top plan view of a blank of material from which the integral one piece handle and support section of the carrier is made.

As a preferred embodiment of the instant invention the drawings illustrate a two piece bottle carrier comprising an integral handle and bottom support element or section I I (Figs. 1 and 4) and a surrounding hoop, side wall or bottle retaining band 12 for holding the bottles in place in a lateral direction. Both of these parts or sections preferably are made from sheet metal.

The handle and bottom support element ll preferably is struck out from a single fiat blank l4 (Fig. 5) which at its ends is shaped to give a pleasing appearance to the finished carrier. These ends adjacent their edges may be formed with reenforcing beads l5. Intermediate its ends, the blank is cut through along two spaced and parallel longitudinal lines of severance l6,

5 Claims. (Cl. 224-45) ll. These lines of severance 16, ll set off a handle member i 8 connected .at its uncut ends to cross or connecting elements of the blank and centrally disposed between two spaced and parallel support members or bottom walls i9 and two spaced and parallel end wall members. 21. Edge portions of the members 2'! are formed preferably with short reenforcing beads 2| as shown in Fig. 3 to match the end beads l5, while portions of the support members I9 are formed with longitudinal reeinforcing corrugations 22 as shown in Figs. 2, 4 and 5.

In finally shaping the combined handle and bottom support element II the end wall extension 21 of the two support members is are bent upwardly along lines of bend indicated by transverse dot and dash lines 25 in Fig. 5. This bending action results in a U-shaped bottom and end wall support (Fig. 4) comprising a pair of spaced and parallel reenforced bottom support bars 26 integrally connected at 25 to a pair of spaced upright, inverted U-shaped end members 21.

Simultaneously with this bending action, the handle member I8 is bent upwardly at its ends along transverse lines of bend indicated by the dot and dash lines 28 in Fig. 5 and intermediate its ends along transverse lines of bend 29. This results in an upright inwardly tapered handle 3| of sturdy construction and pleasing appearance, integrally attached to the bottom or bottle support bars 26 without the use of rivets or welding or other separate fastening devices. This handle along its edges preferably is formed with hems 32 to provide smooth reinforced edges as shown in Fig.2. Intermediate the lines of bend 29 the handle preferably is formed with a curved hand hold portion 33 to comfortably fit the hand of the user. The hoop or bottle retaining member or side wall l2 preferably is rectangular in shape with rounded corners and is made from a wide strip of metal, the ends of which are united in an interfolded seam 35 (Figs. 1 and 2) preferably of the lock and lap type such as used in the side seams of metal can bodies, although other suitable means may be used for uniting the ends of the hoop if desired. Also the hoop l2 may be made in the form of a seamless ring by drawing dies. The edges of the hoop preferably are curled outwardly to form smooth rounded edges 36 which also reenforce the hoop. The hoop surrounds the handle and support member H as shown in Figs. 1 and 2 and issecured in place at its narrow ends to the members 21 by small lugs 31 which are struck out of the material of the hoop and which extend through pairs of slits 38 formed in the upright end members 21. The lugs 31 are bent in opposite directions on each leg of the inverted U-shaped end members 27 and down against the inside surfaces of the end member 21 and thus lock the hoop securely in place.

In case the use of the integral lugs 37 is not a desideratum the hoop member i2 may also be welded or soldered or otherwise secured to the member I I.

Such a simple two piece construction of bottle carrier provides for strength and rigidity so that the carrier is well adapted to hold two rows of empty or filled bottles in an upright position while at the same time being capable of withstanding reasonable abuse Without distortion.

It is thought that the invention and many of its attendant advantages will be understood from the foregoing description, and it will be apparent that various changes may be made in the form, construction and arrangement of the parts without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention or sacrificing all of its material advantages, the form hereinbefore described being merely a preferred embodiment thereof.

I claim:

1. A flat blank for a portable carrier comprising a one piece handle and bottom support element, said blank having a pair of spaced and parallel longitudinal lines of severance terminating inwardly of the ends of the blank and setting off a pair of spaced and parallel longitudinal bar sections connected at their ends and a central longitudinal handle section, said bar sections adapted to be bent into horizontal support members and upright inverted U-shaped end portions for supporting a plurality of rows of bottles in an upright position, said handle section adapted to be bent outwardly into a carrier handle.

2. A portable carrier comprising a one piece handle and bottom support element for carrying containers, said element having a plurality of longitudinal and spaced U-shaped support bars integrally united at their adjacent ends by connecting elements, and having a handle of substantially inverted U formation integrally united with said connecting elements along downwardly and upwardly directed, transverse, bent portions.

3. A portable carrier for carrying a plurality of rows of bottles in an upright position, comprising a one piece handle and bottom support element, said element including spaced horizontal bottom support bars on which the bottles rest, said support bars at their ends extending upwardly into spaced vertical walls on opposite sides of the carrier, adjacent top ends of said spaced vertical walls being merged integrally into a transverse connecting end section at each of said opposite sides, the handle portion of said element extending upwardly above said bars and having each of its two ends integrally joined with one of said opposite transverse connecting end sections in an outwardly and upwardly directed, transverse bent portion.

4. A portable carrier for carrying a plurality of rows of bottles in an upright position, comprising a one piece handle and bottom support element, said element including a pair of spaced U- shaped bottom support bars, said bars at their adjacent top ends being merged into a transverse connecting end section on opposite sides of the carrier, and the handle portion of said element extending upwardly above said bars and having each of its two ends merged integrally with one of said opposite transverse connecting end sections of said bottom support bars in an outwardly and upwardly directed, transverse bent portion, and a separate bottle-holding member secured to said support bars for laterally retaining the bottles in place on said bars.

5. A portable carrier for carrying a plurality of rows of bottles in upright position, comprising a one piece handle and bottom support element, said element including reenforced spaced horizontal bottom support bars on which the bottles rest, said bottom support bars at their ends extending upwardly into spaced vertical walls on opposite sides of the carrier, said spaced walls at their adjacent top ends being merged into and integrally joined together by a transverse connecting end section on each of said opposite sides, a

the handle portion of said element extending upwardly for carrying the carrier and the bottles therein, each end of said handle portion being integrally united with a said connecting end section in an outwardly and upwardly directed, transverse bent portion, and a separate one piece hoop member surrounding said element and being secured to the vertical walls of said support bars for laterally retaining the bottles in place on said element, said hoop member consisting of a band of substantially flat material having rounded corners with its ends united in an interfolded seam, and having all exposed edges curled to provide smooth reen forced edge portions.

NELSON GEERTSEN.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,528,620 Kuwahara et a1 Mar. 3, 1925 2,300,201 Brunhoff Oct. 27, 1942 2,329,656 Sedgwick Sept. 14, 1943 2,404,699 Edgerton July 23, 1946 2,414,708 Bassichis Jan. 21, 1947 2,418,571 Bowersox Apr. 8, 1947 2,425,135 Suiter Aug. 5, 1947 2,436,501 Baier Feb. 24, 1948 

